How the chickens are faring...An Urban Farm Update

We have three hens laying now.  The one in the middle is the normal size we've been getting.  The one on the left, well, apparently we now have a goose I was unaware of.  The one of the right is Starlight's fist pullet egg.  It's so teeny.  I can't wait to see what production is like when all the gals are up and running.  My family may be eating a lot of egg suppers.

Loretta.  She has the prettiest feathers.  They gleam purple, blue and green amongst the black of her wings and back.  Her chest feathers are black and fiery orange.  She's mine.  She's also the layer of the goose egg.  Sometimes they get nervous or scared and hold it....then they're walking funny for a few days when they finally...get on with the business of being a chicken.

Lily, My Oldest's hen next to Loretta.  She's the cheetah print gal.  No eggs yet.  Soon though.  I'm guessing maybe this week.

 Starlight, My Youngest's hen.  Our newest layer.  Love her bitty little egg.

The two who couldn't figure out how to get out of the coop when I was doing my photo shoot.  It happens.  Loredda, the big red hen has been laying the longest and is the most regular about it.  Dolly, the white one is the same breed as Lily....Soon.  Real soon.  They're the Araucanas which mean Easter Egg hens.  Their eggs will be blue or green or pink.  Can't wait!!!!

Thanks for reading!!

Heather

Just call me Farmer

I think, I have finally attained the distinction of farmer.

I've been telling everyone who asks, that I anticipate my first egg sometime around the end of September/the beginning of October.  And look what I found in the coop this morning!!!  Not in the nesting boxes, but that's okay, it was under their roosting branch.

In an effort to convince them to lay in the nesting boxes next time, I filled them full of nice clean wood chips, placed an eggish looking rock in each side, and hopefully I'll start finding the eggs there.

I am surprised by how big it was, and very nicely egg shaped, with its lovely light brown shell.

Crack.  I actually didn't mean to crack the shell this morning, I was just setting it down, and well, things happen.  My plan was to cook it up and let the entire family have a taste.

Instead, I got to enjoy a lovely egg breakfast all by myself.

Tomorrow I'll let the girls go take a peek inside and see what they can find.  My Oldest will tell you, gathering the eggs is her job after all.

Thanks for reading!!!

Heather

You better watch it big guy

We have a fierce chicken protector...and it's a good thing because dog and cat want to have chicken snacks....every second of every day.

No dogs and cats better mess with my chickens.

Sitting down on the job.  sigh.  Cross fingers the chickens survive.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Chicken snack hunting.

The chickies need snacks, don't you know.  And what do they love more than anything...ummmm...if you ask My Youngest it is assorted leaves plucked from all the trees she can get her mits on.

Unnnggghhh!  Too high!

New plan.  Different tree.

Oh yes, scrumptious morsels for the babies....you might notice the latest in farmer attire.  Slippers.

Tasty snack for the chickies!!!

Thanks for reading!

Heather

The enemy of my enemy...is my friend

Ancient Chinese wisdom there.  I'd never seen it in action until...

Yeah.  These two just watch the chickies for hours on end.  They oftentimes sit right next to each other...watching...waiting.

Mine.

You mean...mine.  Scruffy mongrel.

Puss is so moody.

Our cute little coop.  So far the chickens hate the ramp and want to bed down at night in a corner on the ground.  Right.  So, this means every night, I get to crawl in as best I can, grab however many of them I can and remind them that their nesting box is where sleeping happens.  They're all pretty well behaved...except for Starlight who is too wily to be caught.  She gets to make her own way up once the others are safe and sound.

Can't wait for the chicks to get a bit bigger so they can defend themselves against the rabble. 

Thanks for reading!

Heather

The awkward teenage years!!!

The chickies are getting bigger every time we look at them.  They continue to lose their fluff and their feathers are growing in.  I might have fluff everywhere in my basement bathroom...you know, the perfect place to keep baby chickens until they're feather-y enough to live outside.

Who you looking at?

Henny Penny.  She's the biggest of the bunch.  Look at that long neck.  She's also the mellowest.  She does not mind me holding her.

Loretta. Look at her comb growing in.  Just an FYI, chickens recognize each other by the shape of their combs.

Dolly is growing such pretty feathers!  She's got naturally puffy cheeks.  It's a characteristic of Aracauna chickens.  You can really see her chubby cheeks in the photo 2 above this one.

Poor scruffy thing.  Lilly is half fluff and half feathers.  On the bright side, her feathers are coming in leopard print.  She's such a fashionista.

And finally the runt of the litter.  Starlight.  She is the tiniest of the bunch and the one with social anxiety.  She puts up the biggest fight when I am trying to grab her to go on an adventure...you know, to see the great outdoors, her new coop, or to go back in the box.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

New babies in the house!

For a while now, I have wanted chickens, but my experience with chickens is this...playing in my Great Grandpa's chicken coop...but only the first two, maybe three rooms of the coop.  The rooms further back were scary!!  There were all kinds of farm tools, and spider webs.  I clearly have a lot to learn, but I'm eager and willing to do the work necessary to keep them healthy and happy. I do not know anything about chickens, except for what I have read, and I've read a lot!  So....after much persuading on my part, The Mister finally agreed that we could get our own little flock.  This is going to be one serious learning experience. 

The ladies.  Aren't they so fluffy right now.  Fluffy stage isn't going to last long.  I'm kind of excited for adolescence...they're gonna get kind of gnarly looking.

My girls and I named them.  The Mister is now outnumbered 10 to 1, Female to Male ratio.  What a lucky guy.  Want to meet them?

 Lily, one of our Araucana's.  The darker of the two...and a red head.  Fits right in with our crowd.  She should lay blue or green eggs.  Maybe even pink.

Dolly.  Araucana #2.  We got a dark and a light one so we can see the difference in the eggs they lay.  She was formerly Sally...but Mama decided she looked more like a Dolly.  We're turning country over here.

 Loretta, our Black Sex Link.  She's kinda shy.

 Starlight.  She's a Silver Laced Wyandotte and is so pretty!

Finally, Henny Penny, our Rhode Island Red.

Their accommodations.  In our basement shower.  They can have warmth and peace and quiet...and as long as our family follows the rules, hopefully the cat and dog don't make a snack of them.  The #1 rule is...don't open that door unless Mama or Daddy are with you.

Thanks for reading, excited about our chick adventures to come!

Heather